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Articles 4681 - 4710 of 7872

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Group-Index Birefringence And Loss Measurements In Silicon-On-Insulator Photonic Wire Waveguides, David Duchesne, Pavel Cheben, Roberto Morandotti, Boris Lamontagne, Dan-Xia Xu, Siegfried Janz, Demetrios Christodoulides Jan 2007

Group-Index Birefringence And Loss Measurements In Silicon-On-Insulator Photonic Wire Waveguides, David Duchesne, Pavel Cheben, Roberto Morandotti, Boris Lamontagne, Dan-Xia Xu, Siegfried Janz, Demetrios Christodoulides

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Group-index birefringence in silicon-on-insulator photonic wire waveguides is determined through a polarization beating technique and a Fabry-Perot resonance method. A large group-index birefringence, up to 0.67, is obtained as a result of the structural asymmetry and high field confinement of our waveguides. The group index and linear propagation loss are also determined. In particular, the group index is found to be as large as 4.45 due to the significant change in the effective mode index of the waveguide as a function of the wavelength. The effects of structure size on the measured losses and group indices are analyzed. Our experimental …

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Analysis Of 81 Genes From 64 Plastid Genomes Resolves Relationships In Angiosperms And Identifies Genome-Scale Evolutionary Patterns, Robert K. Jansen, Zhengqiu Cai, Linda A. Raubeson, Henry Daniell, Claude W. Depamphilis, James Leebens-Mack, Kai F. Müller, Mary Guisinger-Bellian, Rosemarie C. Haberle, Anne K. Hansen, Timothy W. Chumley, Seung-Bum Lee, Rhiannon Peery, Joel R. Mcneal, Jennifer V. Kuehl, Jeffrey L. Boore Jan 2007

Analysis Of 81 Genes From 64 Plastid Genomes Resolves Relationships In Angiosperms And Identifies Genome-Scale Evolutionary Patterns, Robert K. Jansen, Zhengqiu Cai, Linda A. Raubeson, Henry Daniell, Claude W. Depamphilis, James Leebens-Mack, Kai F. Müller, Mary Guisinger-Bellian, Rosemarie C. Haberle, Anne K. Hansen, Timothy W. Chumley, Seung-Bum Lee, Rhiannon Peery, Joel R. Mcneal, Jennifer V. Kuehl, Jeffrey L. Boore

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Angiosperms are the largest and most successful clade of land plants with > 250,000 species distributed in nearly every terrestrial habitat. Many phylogenetic studies have been based on DNA sequences of one to several genes, but, despite decades of intensive efforts, relationships among early diverging lineages and several of the major clades remain either incompletely resolved or weakly supported. We performed phylogenetic analyses of 81 plastid genes in 64 sequenced genomes, including 13 new genomes, to estimate relationships among the major angiosperm clades, and the resulting trees are used to examine the evolution of gene and intron content. Phylogenetic trees from …

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Comparative Mitochondrial Genomics Of Snakes: Extraordinary Substitution Rate Dynamics And Functionality Of The Duplicate Control Region, Zhi J. Jiang, Todd A. Castoe, Christopher C. Austin, Matthew D. Herron, Frank T. Burbrink, Jimmy A. Mcguire, Christopher L. Parkinson, David D. Pollock Jan 2007

Comparative Mitochondrial Genomics Of Snakes: Extraordinary Substitution Rate Dynamics And Functionality Of The Duplicate Control Region, Zhi J. Jiang, Todd A. Castoe, Christopher C. Austin, Matthew D. Herron, Frank T. Burbrink, Jimmy A. Mcguire, Christopher L. Parkinson, David D. Pollock

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Background: The mitochondrial genomes of snakes are characterized by an overall evolutionary rate that appears to be one of the most accelerated among vertebrates. They also possess other unusual features, including short tRNAs and other genes, and a duplicated control region that has been stably maintained since it originated more than 70 million years ago. Here, we provide a detailed analysis of evolutionary dynamics in snake mitochondrial genomes to better understand the basis of these extreme characteristics, and to explore the relationship between mitochondrial genome molecular evolution, genome architecture, and molecular function. We sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes from Slowinski's corn …

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Advances In Homeland Security Series, Naim Kapucu Jan 2007

Advances In Homeland Security Series, Naim Kapucu

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

This is a book review article for the Advances in Homeland Security Series by Purdue University. The series consist of two volumes. Volume one is entitled The Science of Homeland Security. Volume two is entitled Guiding Future Homeland Security Policy. Amass F. S., Bhunia, A. K, Chaturvedi, A. L., Dolk, D. R., Peeta, S., and Atallah, M. J. Advances in Homeland Security Series: The Science of Homeland Security (Volume 1), West Lafayette, IN: Perdue University Press, 2006 227 pp, introduction, notes, bibliography, index (hardcover). Amass F. S., Chaturvedi, A. L., and Peeta, S. Advances in Homeland Security Series: Guiding Future …

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Role Of Crkii In Fc Gamma Receptor-Mediated Phagocytosis, Warren L. Lee, Gabriela Cosio, Keith Ireton, Sergio Grinstein Jan 2007

Role Of Crkii In Fc Gamma Receptor-Mediated Phagocytosis, Warren L. Lee, Gabriela Cosio, Keith Ireton, Sergio Grinstein

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Phagocytosis of IgG-opsonized pathogens by Fc gamma receptors requires extensive remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton, a process regulated by the small GTPase Rac. Vav was thought to be the guanine nucleotide exchange factor responsible for the activation of Rac, but recent evidence indicates that Fc gamma receptor-mediated phagocytosis is unaffected in macrophages lacking all three isoforms of Vav. We therefore tested whether another GEF, DOCK180, participates in Fc gamma receptor-initiated phagocytosis. DOCK180 associates with the adaptor protein Crk, which mediates recruitment of the GEF to sites of tyrosine phosphorylation. CrkII and DOCK180 were found to accumulate at the phagocytic cup. …

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Specific Grb2-Mediated Interactions Regulate Clathrin-Dependent Endocytosis Of The Cmet-Tyrosine Kinase, Ning Li, Marta Lorinczi, Keith Ireton, Lisa A. Elferink Jan 2007

Specific Grb2-Mediated Interactions Regulate Clathrin-Dependent Endocytosis Of The Cmet-Tyrosine Kinase, Ning Li, Marta Lorinczi, Keith Ireton, Lisa A. Elferink

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Lysosomal degradation of the receptor-tyrosine kinase cMet requires receptor ubiquitination by the E3 ubiquitin ligase Cbl followed by clathrin-dependent internalization. A role for Cbl as an adaptor for cMet internalization has been previously reported. However, the requirement for Cbl ubiquitin ligase activity in this process and its mode of recruitment to cMet has yet to be determined. Cbl can directly bind cMet at phosphotyrosine 1003 or indirectly via Grb2 to phosphotyrosine 1356 in the multisubstrate binding domain of cMet. The direct binding of Cbl with cMet is critical for receptor degradation and not receptor internalization. Here we show a strict …

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Role Of Enpp1 On Adipocyte Maturation, Jian Liang, Mingui Fu, Ester Ciociola, Manisha Chandalia, Nicola Abate Jan 2007

Role Of Enpp1 On Adipocyte Maturation, Jian Liang, Mingui Fu, Ester Ciociola, Manisha Chandalia, Nicola Abate

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Background. It is recognized that the ability of adipose tissue to expand in response to energy excess, i.e. adipocyte maturation, is important in determining systemic abnormalities in glucose and lipid metabolism. Ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1, also known as PC-1) has been recently reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and related diseases. However, its role on adipose tissue physiology as a mechanism of systemic insulin resistance is not understood. This study was performed to evaluate whether ENPP1 is regulated during adipogenesis and whether over-expression in adipocytes can affect adipocyte maturation, a potential novel mechanism of ENPP1-related …

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Characterization Study Of Bonded And Unbonded Polydimethylsiloxane Aimed For Bio-Micro-Electromechanical Systems-Related Applications, Miao Liu, Quanfang Chen Jan 2007

Characterization Study Of Bonded And Unbonded Polydimethylsiloxane Aimed For Bio-Micro-Electromechanical Systems-Related Applications, Miao Liu, Quanfang Chen

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Authors have demonstrated that by controlling the mixing ratio of polydimethylsiloxane's (PDMS's) two components-base polymer (part A) and a curing agent (part B)-different mechanical properties of PDMS can be achieved. Test results show that the Young's modulus decreases as the increasing of mixing ratios (A: B). However, there is a transitional mixing ratio (part A:part B=10) after which the Young's modulus is almost independent of the mixing ratio. The PDMS's thickness plays an important role in determining the mechanical properties. The results show that the thinner the PDMS, the stiffer it behaves. The bonding strength between two cured PDMS parts …

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Heteropolymer Translocation Through Nanopores, Kaifu Luo, Tapio Ala-Nissila, See-Chen Ying, Aniket Bhattacharya Jan 2007

Heteropolymer Translocation Through Nanopores, Kaifu Luo, Tapio Ala-Nissila, See-Chen Ying, Aniket Bhattacharya

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

The authors investigate the translocation dynamics of heteropolymers driven through a nanopore using a constant temperature Langevin thermostat. Specifically, they consider heteropolymers consisting of two types of monomers labeled A and B, which are distinguished by the magnitude of the driving force that they experience inside the pore. From a series of studies on polymers with sequences A(m)B(n) the authors identify both universal as well as specific sequence properties of the translocating chains. They find that the scaling of the average translocation time as a function of the chain length N remains unaffected by the heterogeneity, while the residence time …

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Inhibition Of Hydrogen Uptake In Escherichia Coli By Expressing The Hydrogenase From The Cyanobacterium Synechocystis Sp Pcc 6803, Toshinari Maeda, Gönül Vardar, William T. Self, Thomas K. Wood Jan 2007

Inhibition Of Hydrogen Uptake In Escherichia Coli By Expressing The Hydrogenase From The Cyanobacterium Synechocystis Sp Pcc 6803, Toshinari Maeda, Gönül Vardar, William T. Self, Thomas K. Wood

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Background: Molecular hydrogen is an environmentally- clean fuel and the reversible ( bidirectional) hydrogenase of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 as well as the native Escherichia coli hydrogenase 3 hold great promise for hydrogen generation. These enzymes perform the simple reaction 2H(+) + 2e-. H-2 ( g). Results: Hydrogen yields were enhanced up to 41- fold by cloning the bidirectional hydrogenase ( encoded by hoxEFUYH) from the cyanobacterium into E. coli. Using an optimized medium, E. coli cells expressing hoxEFUYH also produced twice as much hydrogen as the well- studied Enterobacter aerogenes HU- 101, and hydrogen gas bubbles are …

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Modulation Of Human Neural Stem Cell Differentiation In Alzheimer (App23) Transgenic Mice By Phenserine, Amelia Marutle, Masao Ohmitsu, Mats Nilbratt, Nigel H. Greig, Agneta Nordberg, Kiminobu Sugaya Jan 2007

Modulation Of Human Neural Stem Cell Differentiation In Alzheimer (App23) Transgenic Mice By Phenserine, Amelia Marutle, Masao Ohmitsu, Mats Nilbratt, Nigel H. Greig, Agneta Nordberg, Kiminobu Sugaya

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

In a previous study, we found that human neural stem cells (HNSCs) exposed to high concentrations of secreted amyloid-precursor protein (sAPP) in vitro differentiated into mainly astrocytes, suggesting that pathological alterations in APP processing during neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) may prevent neuronal differentiation of HNSCs. Thus, successful neuroplacement therapy for AD may require regulating APP expression to favorable levels to enhance neuronal differentiation of HNSCs. Phenserine, a recently developed cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI), has been reported to reduce APP levels in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we found reductions of APP and glial fibrillary acidic protein …

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Invariant Resolution Dynamic Focus Ocm Based On Liquid Crystal Lens, S. Murali, K. S. Lee, J. P. Rolland Jan 2007

Invariant Resolution Dynamic Focus Ocm Based On Liquid Crystal Lens, S. Murali, K. S. Lee, J. P. Rolland

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

A primary limitation of optical coherence microscopy is the lack of sufficient lateral resolution over a usable imaging volume for diagnostic applications, even with high-numerical aperture imaging optics. In this paper, we first motivate the benefit of refocusing at multiple depths in a highly scattering biological sample using optical coherence microscopy, which experimentally shows invariant 2.5 mu m axial and 6.5 mu m lateral resolution throughout the sample. We then present the optical system design of a hand-held probe with the advanced capability to dynamically focus with no moving parts to a depth of 2 mm in skin-equivalent tissue at …

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Pet, A Non-Ab Toxin, Is Transported And Translocated Into Epithelial Cells By A Retrograde Trafficking Pathway, Fernando Navarro-García, Adrián Canizalez-Roman, Kaitlin E. Burlingame, Ken Teter, Jorge E. Vidal Jan 2007

Pet, A Non-Ab Toxin, Is Transported And Translocated Into Epithelial Cells By A Retrograde Trafficking Pathway, Fernando Navarro-García, Adrián Canizalez-Roman, Kaitlin E. Burlingame, Ken Teter, Jorge E. Vidal

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

The plasmid-encoded toxin (Pet) of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli is a 104-kDa autotransporter protein that exhibits proteolytic activity against the actin-binding protein alpha-fodrin. Intracellular cleavage of epithelial fodrin by Pet disrupts the actin cytoskeleton, causing both cytotoxic and enterotoxic effects. Intoxication requires the serine protease activity of Pet and toxin endocytosis from clathrin-coated pits. The additional events in the intracellular trafficking of Pet are largely uncharacterized. Here, we determined by confocal microscopy that internalized Pet is transferred from the early endosomes to the Golgi apparatus and then travels to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Pet associates with the Sec61p translocon before it …

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Liquid-Crystal-Based Linear Polarization Rotator, Hongwen Ren, Shin-Tson Wu Jan 2007

Liquid-Crystal-Based Linear Polarization Rotator, Hongwen Ren, Shin-Tson Wu

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

A liquid-crystal (LC)-based polarization rotator which can rotate the polarization axis of an incident linearly polarized light from 0 degrees to 90 degrees is demonstrated. In the LC cell, the top substrate has a uniform rubbing but the bottom substrate has two orthogonal rubbings which are separated by a nonrubbing zone. Between these two rubbed strips, the LC directors twist continuously from 0 degrees to 90 degrees. As a result, the optic axis of the incident linearly polarized light can be rotated continuously depending on the beam position.

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Geographical Gradients In Diet Affect Population Dynamics Of Canada Lynx, James D. Roth, John D. Marshall, Dennis L. Murray, David M. Nickerson, Todd D. Steury Jan 2007

Geographical Gradients In Diet Affect Population Dynamics Of Canada Lynx, James D. Roth, John D. Marshall, Dennis L. Murray, David M. Nickerson, Todd D. Steury

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Geographical gradients in the stability of cyclic populations of herbivores and their predators may relate to the degree of specialization of predators. However, such changes are usually associated with transition from specialist to generalist predator species, rather than from geographical variation in dietary breadth of specialist predators. Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) populations undergo cyclic. fluctuations in northern parts of their range, but cycles are either greatly attenuated or lost altogether in the southern boreal forest where prey diversity is higher. We tested the influence of prey specialization on population cycles by measuring the stable carbon …

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Expression Of Cholera Toxin B-Proinsulin Fusion Protein In Lettuce And Tobacco Chloroplasts - Oral Administration Protects Against Development Of Insulitis In Non-Obese Diabetic Mice, Tracey Ruhlman, Raheleh Ahangari, Andrew Devine, Mohtahsem Samsam, Henry Daniell Jan 2007

Expression Of Cholera Toxin B-Proinsulin Fusion Protein In Lettuce And Tobacco Chloroplasts - Oral Administration Protects Against Development Of Insulitis In Non-Obese Diabetic Mice, Tracey Ruhlman, Raheleh Ahangari, Andrew Devine, Mohtahsem Samsam, Henry Daniell

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Lettuce and tobacco chloroplast transgenic lines expressing the cholera toxin B subunit-human proinsulin (CTB-Pins) fusion protein were generated. CTB-Pins accumulated up to similar to 16% of total soluble protein (TSP) in tobacco and up to similar to 2.5% of TSP in lettuce. Eight milligrams of powdered tobacco leaf material expressing CTB-Pins or, as negative controls, CTB-green fluorescent protein (CTB-GFP) or interferon-GFP (IFN-GFP), or untransformed leaf, were administered orally, each week for 7 weeks, to 5-week-old female non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. The pancreas of CTB-Pins-treated mice showed decreased infiltration of cells characteristic of lymphocytes (insulitis); insulin-producing beta-cells in the pancreatic islets …

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The Complete Nucleotide Sequence Of The Coffee (Coffea Arabica L.) Chloroplast Genome: Organization And Implications For Biotechnology And Phylogenetic Relationships Amongst Angiosperms, Nalapalli Samson, Michael G. Bausher, Seung-Bum Lee, Robert K. Jansen, Henry Daniell Jan 2007

The Complete Nucleotide Sequence Of The Coffee (Coffea Arabica L.) Chloroplast Genome: Organization And Implications For Biotechnology And Phylogenetic Relationships Amongst Angiosperms, Nalapalli Samson, Michael G. Bausher, Seung-Bum Lee, Robert K. Jansen, Henry Daniell

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

The chloroplast genome sequence of Coffea arabica L., the first sequenced member of the fourth largest family of angiosperms, Rubiaceae, is reported. The genome is 155 189 bp in length, including a pair of inverted repeats of 25 943 bp. Of the 130 genes present, 112 are distinct and 18 are duplicated in the inverted repeat. The coding region comprises 79 protein genes, 29 transfer RNA genes, four ribosomal RNA genes and 18 genes containing introns (three with three exons). Repeat analysis revealed five direct and three inverted repeats of 30 bp or longer with a sequence identity of 90% …

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Selective Chemical Probe Inhibitor Of Stat3, Identified Through Structure-Based Virtual Screening, Induces Antitumor Activity, Khandaker Siddiquee, Shumin Zhang, Wayne C. Guida, Michelle A. Blaskovich, Benjamin Greedy, Harshani R. Lawrence, M. L. Richard Yip, Richard Jove, Mark M. Mclaughlin, Nicholas J. Lawrence, Said M. Sebti, James Turkson Jan 2007

Selective Chemical Probe Inhibitor Of Stat3, Identified Through Structure-Based Virtual Screening, Induces Antitumor Activity, Khandaker Siddiquee, Shumin Zhang, Wayne C. Guida, Michelle A. Blaskovich, Benjamin Greedy, Harshani R. Lawrence, M. L. Richard Yip, Richard Jove, Mark M. Mclaughlin, Nicholas J. Lawrence, Said M. Sebti, James Turkson

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

S31-201 (NSC 74859) is a chemical probe inhibitor of Stat3 activity, which was identified from the National Cancer Institute chemical libraries by using structure-based virtual screening with a computer model of the Stat3 SH2 domain bound to its Stat3 phosphotyrosine peptide derived from the x-ray crystal structure of the Stat3 beta homodimer. S31-201 inhibits Stat3-Stat3 complex formation and Stat3 DNA-binding and transcriptional activities. Furthermore, S31-201 inhibits growth and induces apoptosis preferentially in tumor cells that contain persistently activated Stat3. Constitutively climerized and active Stat3C and Stat3 SH2 domain rescue tumor cells from S31-201-induced apoptosis. Finally, S31-201 inhibits the expression of …

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Calculation Of Critical Values For Somerville's Fdr Procedures, Paul N. Somerville Jan 2007

Calculation Of Critical Values For Somerville's Fdr Procedures, Paul N. Somerville

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

A Fortran 95 program has been written to calculate critical values for the step-up and step-down FDR procedures developed by Somerville (2004). The program allows for arbitrary selection of number of hypotheses, FDR rate, one- or two-sided hypotheses, common correlation coefficient of the test statistics and degrees of freedom. An MCV (minimum critical value) may be specified, or the program will calculate a specified number of critical values or steps in an FDR procedure. The program can also be used to efficiently ascertain an upper bound to the number of hypotheses which the procedure will reject, given either the values …

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Liquid Mixing Driven Motions Of Floating Macroscopic Objects, Ming Su Jan 2007

Liquid Mixing Driven Motions Of Floating Macroscopic Objects, Ming Su

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Dropping miscible and low-density organic solvents into water generates translational and rotational motions of floating objects including oil droplets, polymer half spheres, and model boats. The moving speed of the boat at different loads and the force produced by solvent drops are measured. In contrast to motions driven by surface tension of monolayer, the liquid mixing driven motion can be dynamically steered without restriction and continued provided the supply is maintained and the amount of water is large enough. Such motions are the result of Marangoni instability in binary liquid-liquid systems with intentionally produced concentration gradients behind the floating objects.

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Efficacy, Pharmacokinetics, And Metabolism Of Tetrahydroquinoline Inhibitors Of Plasmodium Falciparum Protein Farnesyltransferase, Wesley C. Voorhis, Kasey L. Rivas, Pravin Bendale, Laxman Nallan, Carolyn Hornéy, Lynn K. Barrett, Kevin D. Bauer, Brian P. Smart, Sudha Ankala, Oliver Hucke, Christophe L. M. J. Verlinde, Debopam Chakrabarti, Corey Strickland, Kohei Yokoyama, Frederick S. Buckner, Andrew D. Hamilton, David K. Williams, Louis J. Lombardo, David Floyd, Michael H. Gelb Jan 2007

Efficacy, Pharmacokinetics, And Metabolism Of Tetrahydroquinoline Inhibitors Of Plasmodium Falciparum Protein Farnesyltransferase, Wesley C. Voorhis, Kasey L. Rivas, Pravin Bendale, Laxman Nallan, Carolyn Hornéy, Lynn K. Barrett, Kevin D. Bauer, Brian P. Smart, Sudha Ankala, Oliver Hucke, Christophe L. M. J. Verlinde, Debopam Chakrabarti, Corey Strickland, Kohei Yokoyama, Frederick S. Buckner, Andrew D. Hamilton, David K. Williams, Louis J. Lombardo, David Floyd, Michael H. Gelb

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

New antimalarials are urgently needed. We have shown that tetrahydroquinoline (THQ) protein farnesyltransferase (PFr) inhibitors (PFTIs) are effective against the Plasmodium falciparum PFr and are effective at killing P. falciparum in vitro. Previously described THQ PFTIs had limitations of poor oral bioavailability and rapid clearance from the circulation of rodents. In this paper, we validate both the Caco-2 cell permeability model for predicting THQ intestinal absorption and the in vitro liver microsome model for predicting THQ clearance in vivo. Incremental improvements in efficacy, oral absorption, and clearance rate were monitored by in vitro tests; and these tests were followed up …

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Free Energy Of Dna Duplex Formation On Short Oligonucleotide Microarrays, Li Zhang, Chunlei Wu, Roberto Carta, Haitao Zhao Jan 2007

Free Energy Of Dna Duplex Formation On Short Oligonucleotide Microarrays, Li Zhang, Chunlei Wu, Roberto Carta, Haitao Zhao

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

DNA/DNA duplex formation is the basic mechanism that is used in genome tiling arrays and SNP arrays manufactured by Affymetrix. However, detailed knowledge of the physical process is still lacking. In this study, we show a free energy analysis of DNA/DNA duplex formation these arrays based on the positional-dependent nearest-neighbor (PDNN) model, which was developed previously for describing DNA/RNA duplex formation on expression microarrays. Our results showed that the two ends of a probe contribute less to the stability of the duplexes and that there is a microarray surface effect on binding affinities. We also showed that free energy cost …

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Characteristics Of Academic Writing In Education, Andrew Kemp Jan 2007

Characteristics Of Academic Writing In Education, Andrew Kemp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to Stangl (1994), Jalongo (2002), Richards and Miller (2005) and a host of other authors regarding publishing in educational journals, understanding the audience for an article is of utmost importance. Huff (1999) notes that an author must understand the audience for whom s/he writes. While much of this understanding of audience comes down to suitable topics (Silverman, 1982), articles must also fit the style of the journal to which it is being presented (Olsen, 1997). With this in mind, the purpose of this study is to characterize the writing style of academic writing in education. This research will involve …

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Recognizing Teamwork Activity In Observations Of Embodied Agents, Linus Jan Luotsinen Jan 2007

Recognizing Teamwork Activity In Observations Of Embodied Agents, Linus Jan Luotsinen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents contributions to the theory and practice of team activity recognition. A particular focus of our work was to improve our ability to collect and label representative samples, thus making the team activity recognition more efficient. A second focus of our work is improving the robustness of the recognition process in the presence of noisy and distorted data. The main contributions of this thesis are as follows: We developed a software tool, the Teamwork Scenario Editor (TSE), for the acquisition, segmentation and labeling of teamwork data. Using the TSE we acquired a corpus of labeled team actions both …

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Human Sexuality Education In The Middle Grades Classroom: A Review Of Curricula In A Sample Of Florida School Districts, Melinda Myrick Jan 2007

Human Sexuality Education In The Middle Grades Classroom: A Review Of Curricula In A Sample Of Florida School Districts, Melinda Myrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the extent to which human sexuality topics are covered in Florida middle school science classrooms and the process by which curricular decisions are made regarding human sexuality education on a county-wide basis. Primary data included interviews with county-level administrators who oversee curricular decisions related to the middle-grades science curriculum or health curriculum in twelve school districts within the state. These districts represented four geographic locations and districts of various sizes. Administrators from four of the twelve studies in the sample chose to provide information regarding their human sexuality education curriculum. In two cases, teacher leads were identified …

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Examining Sociomathematical Norms Within The Context Of Decimals And Fractions In A Sixth Grade Classroom, Marino Nardelli Jan 2007

Examining Sociomathematical Norms Within The Context Of Decimals And Fractions In A Sixth Grade Classroom, Marino Nardelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social norms are patterns of behavior expected within a particular society in a given situation. Social norms can be shared belief of what is normal and acceptable shapes and enforces the actions of people in a society. In the educational classroom, they are characteristics that constitute the classroom participation structure. Sociomathematical norms are fine-grained aspects of general social norms specifically related to mathematical practices. These can include, but are not limited to, a student-centered classroom that includes the expectation that the students should present their solution methods by describing actions on mathematical objects rather than simply accounting for calculational manipulations. …

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A Novel Setup For High-Pressure Raman Spectroscopy Under A Microscope, Thomas Andrew Oakeson Jan 2007

A Novel Setup For High-Pressure Raman Spectroscopy Under A Microscope, Thomas Andrew Oakeson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Functional properties of biological molecules and cells are affected by environmental parameters such as temperature and pressure. While Raman spectroscopy provides an intrinsic probe of molecular structural changes, the incorporation of a microscope enables studies of minuscule amounts of biological compounds with spatial resolution on a micron scale. We have developed a novel setup which combines a Raman microscope and a high pressure cell. A micro-capillary made out of fused silica simultaneously serves as the supporting body and the optical window of the pressure cell. The cell has been tested over the pressure range from 0.1 to 4 kbar. Raman …

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Analysis Of Mitochondrial Dna Coding Region Snps By Pyrosequencing, Kyle Robert Carl Parker Jan 2007

Analysis Of Mitochondrial Dna Coding Region Snps By Pyrosequencing, Kyle Robert Carl Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To date, the use of mitochondrial DNA in forensic analysis has relied on the presence of variations in the control region to differentiate between samples. One problem that this analysis has shown is the occurrence of common Haplogroup H haplotypes or identical sequences. Thus, there is a need to enhance the distinguishing power of this type of analysis. One option has been to investigate the mitochondrial coding region for polymorphisms that could differentiate between samples with identical control region haplotypes. The goal of this study has been to identify polymorphic coding region sites for development in a Pyrosequencing assay that …

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Journey To The Scars: A White Trash Epic, J. Patrick Rader Jan 2007

Journey To The Scars: A White Trash Epic, J. Patrick Rader

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inspired by the work of writers Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe and motivated by celebrity prevaricator James Frey, Journey to the Scars: A White Trash Epic is a memoir that attempts to redefine the genre by applying the ideals and themes of gonzo and new journalism. The opening chapter, "The Diary of John Doe Frankenstein" tells the story of a pivotal event in the author's life. Immediately following this narrative of a near fatal motorcycle accident, the author/narrator's reliability is called into question and the remainder of the memoir is the story of the author's efforts to uncover the …

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Nonlinear Optical Properties Of Organic Chromophores Calculated Within Time Dependent Density Functional Theory, Sergio Tafur Jan 2007

Nonlinear Optical Properties Of Organic Chromophores Calculated Within Time Dependent Density Functional Theory, Sergio Tafur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Time Dependent Density Functional Theory offers a good accuracy/computational cost ratio among different methods used to predict the electronic structure for molecules of practical interest. The Coupled Electronic Oscillator (CEO) formalism was recently shown to accurately predict Nonlinear Optical (NLO) properties of organic chromophores when combined with Time Dependent Density Functional Theory. Unfortunately, CEO does not lend itself easily to interpretation of the structure activity relationships of chromophores. On the other hand, the Sum Over States formalism in combination with semiempirical wavefunction methods has been used in the past for the design of simplified essential states models. These models can …

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